Recap: Carnival Row Season 1 Ep. 3 “Kingdoms of the Moon” – All’s Fair In Love and Fae Wars
Series Launched Aug. 30, 2019. All Episodes Available on Amazon Prime Video
Reviewer Rating:
If you haven’t watched “Kingdoms of The Moon,” Episode 3 of Carnival Row
***** WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD *****
“Kingdoms of the Moon” takes us back a few years to the Fae wars in the country of Anoun, specifically the region of Tirnanoc. In this third episode of Carnival Row, we find out how Philo (Orlando Bloom) met Vignette (Cara Delevingne). And we also learn the real reason Philo’s friend Darius (Ariyon Bakare) is really imprisoned.
In the Tiranese Highlands, Burgish soldiers ride toward a Fae compound that they will use as their base camp to fend off The Pact and provide support to a larger troop further away. Sergeant Rycroft “Philo” Philostrate and his brother-in-arms Darius want to be civil and peaceful, but there are other soldiers who are crass and loathe any sort of creature that isn’t human.
During a routine search of the grounds on his commanders orders, Philo stumbles across a beautiful library filled with ancient tomes. As he takes in his surroundings, a Fae drops down and threatens his life. Vignette isn’t fond of these soldiers and is anxious for them to leave her home. But as she keeps a watchful eye on Philo who promised not to reveal the location of the library to his commanding officer, Vignette realizes that Philo isn’t an ordinary soldier of The Burgue.
Set in the beautiful Prachov Rocks in the Czech Republic, the snow-capped towers transport you to another place and time. As the episode unfolds, and sheds more light on the intricate and intimate relationship developing between Philo and Vignette, the revelation of why he left becomes clearer, and he’s not the only one to blame for his silent departure.
Vignette’s iciness towards Philo begins to melt when he enlists her to help fix a rope bridge. During the mission, Philo and his men are attacked by three werewolves (yes, werewolves), and Vignette comes to Philo’s aid when he is being attacked. These werewolves are not ordinary. They came out in full daylight and no full moon in sight. They used a syringe filled with some catalyst to help induce “the change.” But as with most werewolf lore, if you are scratched or bitten, you become infected. And that’s where Darius’ plight begins.
After the attack, Philo and Vignette become closer. She reads the book Philo loans her titled “Kingdoms of the Moon,” which tells the story of “a rouge inventor who journeys to the moon and falls in love with the princess of the lunar tribe.” In reading the story of the inventor and the lunar princess, Vignette begins to soften toward Philo.
Vignette repays the favor by showing Philo the sacred Fae library. She shows him “a 700-year old illuminated manuscript. It tells the tale of the first human in Tirnanoc.”
As the story goes, “He was an explorer called Isen who’d washed ashore after a storm, and was taken to Queen Aradis who became utterly fascinated by him. He stayed as a guest of her court for quite a while, and well, they fell desperately in love…
Sadly, Isen yearned for home so he built a ship and left. No one knows if he returned but he did leave something of himself behind. They had a child, a son…He was a mysterious figure, he spent his life searching for his father.”
The story of the first human in Vignette’s book mirrors that of the “Kingdoms of the Moon” book Philo gave her. But the child in Vignette’s book is “a half-blood,” and as we learned in episode 2, “Aisling,” half-bloods are as equally despised by many humans as full-blood creatures.
Philo and Vignette grow closer and the mystery about Philo becomes clearer. When Philo’s commanding officer receives word that soldiers up north are in desperate need of blood, Philo sneaks away in order to not donate. As he quietly winds his way through the snowy rocks, he stumbles upon Vignette and the connection between them can no longer be contained.
The chemistry between Bloom and Delevingne is palpable. Their first kiss and sexual liaison is quite rapturous, to say the least. The way her wings move and glow in the climax of their union is sensual and bewitching. And the way she has to mount Philo makes me think back to that infamous internet photo of Bloom’s ‘manhood.’
After another encounter, Philo mentions the scars on his back are a “childhood injury.” But as the pieces begin to fall into place, it becomes clear that Philo is more than just human.
Going back to the werewolves, Darius doesn’t quite come out unscathed. And one night, Philo follows Darius outside the walls of the Fae village and sees that his friend is more than just human as well. Darius says something quite interesting and illuminating,
“The wolf fades slowly…I look forward to the change. I’ll be shitting bones and leather for a week. But in the moment, when the wolf comes out, it’s freedom. It’s like the wolf was what you were all along, underneath it all and the bite was just permission to stop pretending. And that’s what this whole fucking place is.”
Vignette’s best friend Tourmaline (Karla Crome) returns to the village after escaping the ravages of war. Tourmaline learns of Vignette’s new lover Philo and is obviously hurt. Tourmaline asks the question I was wondering – what’s going to happen to them after the war?
Vignette poses the question to Philo and after some back and forth, he opens up.
Philo: “You’re like coming home. I lost part of myself a long time ago. I tried to forget, I tried to ignore it, but it was always there. There’s a solider here, one who lost his leg…he told me he can still feel it, as mad as that sounds. But it didn’t sound mad, not to me.”
Vignette: “Your scars?”
Philo: “It must have happened when I was a baby, I can’t remember it. But I know what was taken from me.”
Vignette: “Because you still feel them.”
Philo: “I always have. I’ve felt them my whole life.”
Vignette: “You’re half Fae.”
Well, now we know why Philo didn’t want to give blood and why he insists on “no doctors” for injuries. In episode one, “Some Dark God Wakes,” when he was chasing down Jack, even a hammer to the face didn’t prompt him to seek medical attention.
But Philo leaving Vignette behind isn’t completely his choice. His decision to leave her without saying goodbye is influenced by Tourmaline’s bequest:
“Do you love her? Do you know what, it doesn’t matter; she loves you and it’s gonna get her killed. I’ve seen what’s coming and your two legs can’t outrun it. The Burgue is losing the war.
This will be Pact territory soon and she will stay by your side even when you beg her to fly away and save herself because…because that’s who she is. She’ll die for you. If you love her, you won’t give her the choice to.”
Things between Philo and Vignette are clearer but she doesn’t know what Tourmaline said because Philo didn’t tell her. And the mystery of Aisling’s (Erika Stárková) murder lingers heavily in the present day. Who or what is responsible for the gruesome slaying? And will there be more killings on Carnival Row?
Watch Carnival Row on Amazon Prime Video. All episodes launched Friday, August 30, 2019.
Twitter @CarnivalRow
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Photos: ©2019 Amazon Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Judy Manning
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